Two client stories
On December 4, Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York ordered that DACA be fully reinstated, so that Dreamers could apply for the full benefits of the program as it existed before September 5, 2017. This meant that people could apply for DACA if they had never been part of the program before as well as apply to travel overseas with permission, opening up educational and employment opportunities that had been taken away from the next generation of undocumented students.
The recent revival of DACA will hopefully bring a happy ending to one of the Immigration Resource Center’s most difficult client stories: a tale of two brothers, Gabriel and Juan. The IRC first met Gabriel in 2018, when he was a student in community college. Gabriel received DACA while in high school, and used his work permit to support his family, including his younger brother, Juan. Juan hoped to follow in his brother’s footsteps and apply for DACA so he could pursue higher education and support his family financially. However, he was denied this opportunity when DACA was terminated by the Trump Administration in 2017. It was sobering and deeply saddening to see how, even within a single family, shifts in immigration policy can easily take away opportunities for success.
Fortunately, DACA was finally ordered to reopen, and teenagers like Juan are able to apply for the first time. The IRC is committed to helping these Dreamers navigate their opportunities, and is excited for the ways that the restored DACA program can benefit the students in our community!
However, even in the wake of DACA’s resurrection, many individuals still don’t qualify for the benefits that the policy allows. Take 22-year-old Blake, for example: his family came to the United States five years ago due to extreme economic hardship in their home country. In 2018, a group of young men attacked Blake outside his home and robbed him, inflicting substantial physical injuries and significant psychological trauma.
Through a church contact, Blake connected with the IRC, which helped him apply for the U-Visa, a path that allows victims of crimes to remain in the United States. The IRC has supported Blake in gathering all the necessary documents to apply for a U-Visa and coordinated with Mountainside’s Compassionate Action program to provide a one-time payment for Blake’s record request to the police department. Later, the IRC signed Blake up for the LA County COVID relief program, arranged pro-bono mental health assessment, and, finally, filed for his U-Visa with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services!
Unfortunately, there is still a five-to-six-year wait for U-Visa applications to be processed, which means that Blake remains without status until at least 2025. However, the IRC remains hopeful that it submitted a strong case that is likely to be approved. With luck, Blake will be able to apply for his green card in 2028. The IRC is committed to providing for its clients in any way possible, and can't do this without its community of supporters.